John l



(No Model.) I 7 J. L. CULBERSON.

' THILL COUPLING.

N0.=389-,'793. Patented Sept. 18, 1888.

8 WITNESSES IJV'VENTOR 2288 859880628, 06%,

' .Attorney UNITED. STATES PATENT tries,

JOHN L. OULBERSON, OF HENDRYSBURG, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOFLEETWOOD O. JONES, OF SAME PLACE.

THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,793, datedSeptember 18, 1888i Application filed June 2, 1888. Serial No. 275,810.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN L. OULBERSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hendrysburg, in the county of Belmont and State of Ohio,have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Thin-Couplings;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it IO appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in thillcouplings; and itconsists in the construction and arrangement of parts, more fullyhereinafter described,and pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, efficient, anddurable coupling for thills, one which will admit of a quick and easycoupling or uncoupling without the use of tools. I attain this object bythe construction 23 illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein Figurel is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a detail view of thethill-iron. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section; and Figs. 4 and 5are detail views of the pintle, the latter being a modified form.

In the drawings, A represents a clip, of the usual form, having arms orside bars, B, extending out therefrom parallel with each other,

as is usual in this class of couplings. These arms B have eyes orsockets b at their outer ends, registering with each other, their lowersides being extended below the plane of the under side of the arms B,while their upper 5 edges are on the same plane, for purposes hereinafter stated. Formed on the lower inner face of the ends I) areflanges 0, made integral with said ends and extending inward to a pointadjacent to each other, having a space between.

A radial groove, b, is formed in the walls oi the eye of the outer arm,B, at a point near its upper side, where the metal is re-enforced by itsextending out even with the upper side of the rounded end or eye,thereby retaining the equal strength of the eye throughout its entirecircumference.

D represents the shaft-iron,\vhich, as shown in Fig. 2, has an' eye, E,formed on its end, which has a radial groove, (1, made in its inner .onthe flanges of the arms, supporting the thills,

(No model.)

. wall adjacent to the end of the shaft-iron.

This groove is made either entirely across the eye or inclined, as shownin Fig. 3, at one side only. To prevent the groove d from weakening theeye, a shoulder or brace, (1, is formed integrally with the iron at apoint directly op posite the groove, which also adds strength to theconnection of the shaft-iron and eye. On the rear end of the eye of theshaft-iron, at a point a short'distanee above the axial center, is a camprojection or curved extension, F, of a width equal to the width of theeye. This projection is of sufficient thickness to occupy the spacebetween the eye and the flanges on the arms, and impinges against thesame when the thills are thrown back for uncoupling. An oil-aperture, f,is made in the upper side of the eye 01, which leads into its centeropenings. This aperture is made dust-proof by having a suitablespring-slide fitted thereon.

G is the pintle, cylindrical in shape, having a head on one of itsendsanda spline or feather, 9, formed longitudinally on its side a distancefrom the head equal to the thickness of one of the arms B. This splineis formed with a vertical outer edge, .and is inclined inwardly on itsupper edge, as shown in Fig. 4, its dimension being nearly equal to theinclined groove in the eye and the groove in the arm, sothat it passesfreely through the latter into the former,' and is then retained. Incase the groove is made entirely across the eye the spline is made asshown in Fig. 5. A groove or trough, h, is cut longitudinally in theupper side of the cylindrical portion of the pintle directly under theoil aperture) of the eye d, for holding the lubricant and feeding itgradually to the hearings on the arms in which the pintle Works.

The operation of the above-described device is as follows: When theshafts are to be coupled, they are thrown up until the grooves in theeyes of the shaft-irons register with'the grooves in the arms B. \Vhilein this position the cams on the ends of the eyes of the shaft-ironsrest and holding them in a position to secure a perfect registration ofthe eyes and grooves, thereby admitting of an easy insertion of thepintle without its binding. When the shafts are lowered, the pintle islocked in place by the spline being in the groove in the shaft-iron, themove ment of the shaft forcing the grooves out of alignment, thuspreventing the withdrawal of the pintle. As the shafts are lowered, thecams on the eyes of the shaft-irons are carried up from the flanges onthe arms, and the shaft is held and carried by the pintle. Theadvantages thus derived are that the thill may be readily coupled oruncoupled without the use of hammer, wrench, or other tool, and as thepinllcs are extracted thethills are held in place and prevented fromfalling by their resting on the flanges. As will be readily seen, whenthe shafts are thrown up the cams coming in contact with the flangesraises them and releases the pintle of the weight of the shaft.

A suitable rubber cushion may be placed between the ends of thethill-irons and the clip to prevent rattling.

In this construction of pintle I wholly overcome the necessity of boltsor nuts.

I am aware that many minor changes in the construction and arrangementof parts of my improvement can be made and substituted for those shownand described without in the least departing from the nature andprinciple of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a thill-coupling, the combination,with the parallel arms havingeyes on their ends and inwardly-extending flanges on the bottom of saideyes, one of said eyes having a radial groove formed therein, athill-iron provided with an eye having a radial groove adapted toregister with said other groove when the thill is to be coupled, a camon the end of the said thill-iron, and a pintle having a spline arrangedto fit in said grooves, substantially as described.

2. In a thill-conpling, the combination, with the parallel bars, eyesformed thereon, inwardly-extending flanges formed on the lower innerface of said eyes, a shaft-iron having an eye on its end, a cam on saideye, said eyes having radial grooves formed in their inner walls, andsaid thill-iron having an oil-aperture formed therein, a pintle havingan oilgroove on its upper side, and a spline which is adapted to fitinsaid radial grooves when the thill is coupled, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN L. CULBERSON.

Witnesses:

O. L. TAYLOR, XV. H. J ONES.

